Founders:

Concept

Boiler Room televises underground music as it happens from around the world to a massive online community. By doing so, it creates windows into scenes and sounds from every corner of the globe, connecting millions of music-lovers with the type of music they love. This communal participation has redrawn the map for underground culture and proven that mass audiences now subscribe to an alternative choice. Whether it’s finding out what really goes on in Warsaw’s hidden clubs, crate-digging deep in the heart of Mumbai or getting to grips with the political lyricism behind New York’s spoken word movement, Boiler Room exists to broadcast the best music scenes, subcultures and stories from across the world.

How they’re disrupting

While Boiler Room can’t claim to have invented the format of live-streaming music, the last half-decade has seen it comprehensively dominate. It claims to have streamed more than 3.5 billion minutes of music since starting out, with audiences of up to 400,000 tuning in to watch any of up to 100 live sets. From its early days of broadcasting DJs, it’s ballooned into a media upstart clambering rapidly to the top.

Disruption potential

Streaming music services collectively crossed the 100 million-mark in 2016, with Spotify, Sirius XM Radio, and Apple Music driving more than 85% of the total.

Investments and future

The company has received an undisclosed amount from Connect Ventures. As the appetite for live streaming bounds on, Boiler Room are set to increase their audience figures significantly.